Coronvirus leaves goats without work

A herd of firefighting goats, who normally eat brush that could fuel wildfires, have been left without work due to the COVID-19 outbreak...and now their owners are asking for help. KHQ's Noelle Lashley reports.

CHENEY, Wash. (KHQ/NBC News) A herd of “firefighting” goats help keep communities around Cheney, Washington safe during fire season, and now they need some help in return.

The goats at Leshay Goat Rentals help fight fires by eating flammable brush. Their services were in high demand last year, and 2020 was set to be another big year. Co-owner Lester Camp II said that all changed in March.

“COVID-19 in the last month has been devastating for us,” Lester says. “A month ago we had 180 days of grazing scheduled, right now we’re down to about four days.”

Lester and his fiancé Shalene Camp said they’re running out of minerals, alfalfa, grazing land and shelter–a critical need on cold nights. The couple said they built small sheds when they started the business that could shelter 70 goats total.

“Since our grazing season was so absolutely wonderful last year and we knew that this year we were going to be coming into a lot of work, we bred the goats so we’d have enough work to carry on for the next year,” Shalene Camp says. “We have approximately 150 with another 30 moms ready to kid.”

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